A polish theoretical physicist named Andrzej Odrzywołek just wrote a paper proving how all elementary functions can be produced from a single operator.
It’s rather elegant.
He defines the function “eml” as follows:
eml(x,y) = exp(x)−ln(y)
Potentially, this could enable AI to better search for the correct way to do continuous mathematics.
Thus far, AI has been laughably incompetent in math.
Don’t know if the “distance” between distinct functions will prove sufficient, but the recursive nature of this function creates great possibilities.
Time will tell.
For those interested:
https://arxiv.org/html/2603.21852v2